


Around and around

by Polarissruler



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series, Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Hurt/Comfort - sort of, Letters, Manipulation, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 09:07:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30137220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polarissruler/pseuds/Polarissruler
Summary: Her journey is a bud about to blossom, a flower that has not spread its beauty yet. Just before she flees from her fate in order to chase it, Elizabeth pays her last guest a visit - and a surprising host entertains her.The letter is bluntly flung in her lap.A disgraced Prince promises endless power. Elizabeth is asked to provide more information.If only people would hear her advice... But that would not make for an interesting story, would it?
Relationships: Elizabeth & Persona 3 Protagonist, Persona 3 Protagonist & SEES | Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad
Kudos: 2





	Around and around

Her journey is a bud about to blossom, a flower that has not spread its beauty yet. Just before she flees from her fate in order to chase it, Elizabeth pays her last guest a visit - and a surprising host entertains her.

The letter is bluntly flung in her lap. Yukari glances at the hastily locked door and gulps down. "Read it," she orders and forces the fine, white envelope, which with heavy script declares “Dear Miss Takeba”. The overpowering rose stench colors the air pink and piles on shy petal-shaped clouds that melt once one scrutinizes them.

Elizabeth’s lips slowly bend as she speaks line after line, each in her distinctive, measured voice. It is as if she narrates a dream - with the waxed lyrics about power, faith, and hope. In the end, with a single, “How curious,” she sets the half-bent paper sheet on the desk.

“Well?” Yukari has eyes only for the door, not moving her glance during the reading. “Is it possible?”

“Only fools chase the past,” Elizabeth gives Igor’s impartial wisdom yet cannot help herself and peppers it with her experience. “However charming the trip is.”

“I did not ask that.”

Elizabeth cannot lie; it would break every principle she has as an attendant. Truth commands absolute service; she cannot deviate from it in any shape. One “No,” can end the conversation, were it a one-sided torment and not a dance. “There is quite the distinction between possible and probable. You should understand it before running to that isolated island…”

“To the point!” Yukari slams her fist on the door. It quakes in its frame, and someone might pay a lot for repairs. “Can I save him?”

“Many souls have found their way to the fabled castle. Only one has found her way back.”

“What did she say?” Yukari’s hand clutches the handle. After the first wrong word, the talk ends. “Does the power of Prince Whatever exists?”

“On that front, she spoke of nothing,” Elizabeth replies because Chida did never reach the full extent of Ohtori’s darkness. “However, she confirmed the miracles.”

“What miracles?” Yukari holds so tightly that her skin goes as pale as the moonlight before sunrise. “Powerful enough?”

One white lie can spare so much suffering. “Do not let the promise sway you. Those with power rarely share it without extra threads hanging. Unless you are quite careful, you might be the one hanged.”

The door clicks unlocked. “Someone with power offering it for hidden, dangerous costs? I wonder why it sounds so familiar to me. Oh, wait, I got it!” Yukari almost tears the door out of the frame - and fails not due to lack of desire. “I’d rather take the unknown risk than wait.”

"You have such a pure, noble love." A bit of green taints the pink, as Elizabeth could never replace that; could never accept the castle's guaranteed danger for such an impossible chance. "It will be the first thing to lose. Or the last possession you will still own."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Not at all, Yukari Takeba. I am warning you. If you enroll, you might never flee from Ohtori's shadow."

"Good thing I am sick of fleeing. If you are not owing up for your mistakes, someone has to do it."

* * *

The following year, she protests she has nothing to do with the letters; that her neglected obligations in no shape involve the cursed school. Yet Elizabeth visits again, in the same day. The letter has appeared on the former spot, near the coffee splotch on the tablecloth.

And in the end, she comes because any news about Makoto is still news about Makoto, no matter how impossible or improbable. (The information passed through Aigis and reached Theo, who gossips with Margaret. And Margaret never enjoys unnecessary secrets - which most of them are.)

So, she found herself in his room - kept the same in spite of time’s tribulations - sitting cross-legged on the bed. It is a museum dedicated to him, a memorial of the eternal past. Her lips softly curl as she reads the old words and a different name aloud. 

“This ‘End of the World’ and the one who sent Yukari’s letter are the same, I believe,” Mitsuru speaks as coldly as ice, and her left hand stays on her Evoker. As if with power, she could persuade Elizabeth to talk.

Stars have ruled in her favor because this time the former Attendant tells the truth, hiding nothing. She leaves no place for hypothetical, no room for "might," nor "could be". Cold like a scalpel, chillier than the Ice Princess, she describes the winners’ grisly fate. The overbearing, domineering price, the abuse, the pain, the manipulations. Elizabeth piles on incriminating evidence of youths left to rot because humanity’s tendency swept them. People always told stories, and tragedy will remain a prime entertainment forever and forever. Ah, if only comedies were more beloved!

The brilliant speech ends, Elizabeth bows and sets to take off when Mitsuru dares surprise her once again.

“How can one leave the school? You did not mention that.”

It is sudden, like a draft of summer on a winter day. “Once they realize they cannot change the entire world on their own.” Those limits apply only to humans, she whispers in her heart. She, with her limitless experience, will succeed where mortals would fail, survive and cause the shift…

The most influential woman in Japan leaves her greatest weapon on the deck. “Can I summon inside? If it is a location not unlike Tartarus…”

“Only at the start. The longer you live in that castle, the more your heart will erode, and your personality will revert to its base. Once that happens, you will have a Persona no more. I must admit,” Elizabeth smiles, “I never imagined you would ever bet your future on such a suspicious letter.”

“If I were the first, I would have laughed it off as a joke.” She smirks. “After destroying the sender, of course. But Yukari is also trapped. I need to save her.”

Once again, that strange, unavoidable love could cost eternity. “Good luck,” Elizabeth mutters.

* * *

Somebody - it is not Elizabeth’s place to pry - has pulled strings: either the girl with Fool in her heart or Mitsuru’s closest companion. Because the following year, Aigis directly invites her to the empty dorm for the letter.

They cannot predict if one will come - but Dios is not abusing his power and right, and thus he has failed to escape. Or, even with his authority, he has forgotten how to leave. Still, the ghost sends the paper on the table, and Elizabeth excuses herself to his room, waiting for today’s consultation.

She has barely closed the door when the eldest boy pushes abuse on the creaking hinges. “Why did you have to keep so many secrets? Why did you not say they went to save Makoto? We could have come with them and helped!”

Elizabeth has an excellent comeback prepared - Velvet Room Attendant’s Manual, page 287. She opens her lips to wax a narrative about fate and consequences, the rules by which the Universe abides. But… Are they not the same fate and consequences which drove her guest to death? Has she not fled her entire world because of them? In such a case, can she hold this Damocles’ Sword of reality over people’s heads?

Now she wants to ravage and destroy, to cry out her feelings, to scream about her sorrow, to summon Pixie and Thanatos and Zeus and… Yet the time is of the utmost essence, and her sudden outburst will help nobody. Instead, she looks into the boy’s eyes and tells the tale of Dios and his sister. Shadows will suffer her wrath later.

“The hero could not save himself in the end?” Akihiko asks as the last page closes.

“Such is the world. No matter how brave, noble, or valiant one is, it demands more than possible. The need for a sacrifice always arises.”

“And you made Makoto the victim.”

His reply digs in Elizabeth’s chest like a sharp knife. How can she pull it out? They might argue semantics day after day (Dios’ plans end if she convinces Akihiko to stay!). She may protest they did it for humanity (but Dios fought for the same so long ago); they offered him a choice (one death or the world dies); he is not suffering (but that would be an outright lie, and Elizabeth has never lied outright).

“Could anyone else embody that pureness of heart? Exchange his soul for the future of everyone? Help people he barely knows, and those he doesn’t know at all?”

Yes, there is one more, and he is sending letters and trapping teenagers.

“Was Dios a part of your heroes, who resented being so abused and snapped? If we have to clean your mess…”

“He has never signed a contract with us, no.”

“And now Mitsuru and Yukari are trapped while you do nothing.”

“They made their choices.”

Akihiko nods and leaves through the poor door. “I bet you can guess mine, too.”

* * *

As Elizabeth sits on the desk, counting seconds until Dios sends the letter and she instructs the next chosen hero so that they will risk their life one more time, she catches on to the Prince’s plan. He is weaving a cycle where everything that has been will be once again. Instead of waiting for a one-on-one conversation, she jumps out of the room and dashes down the stairs so fast that she almost flies.

“Do not open it!” she orders Ken - the youngest of the group; a child - barely on the verge of growing up! Dios, where has your shame gone? “Please, please, do not!”

“Why? The others got their turn! Now it’s my chance to save them - and Makoto, too!”

“You can never leave. That is the school’s greatest power - as long as your desires lie within it, its gates do not open for you. If your friends refuse to move on, you shall fall into the same deadly trap. The world outside will be but a dream for you.” And she details the familiar, ancient tale.

“And if I win? I must free Makoto! Then nobody else ought to stay in the school. If I can help them, there’s no way to give them up!”

“You crave the Prince’s power - and thus, you will always lose. Because you will always accept he has that over you.”

“Are you telling me to back out?” The boy clenches fists and jumps off the chair. “To leave Yukari and Mitsuru and Akihiko? Why did you not stop them earlier?”

“I apologize for my selfishness. I should have stopped all of you at any cost, yet I hoped one of you might be Makoto’s Prince - save him where I would fail. His fiendish plans happened because I allowed them.”

“And now your conscience is growing, so you want to stop me.” Ken throws the letter on the table as if it is a simple piece of paper. “You made this mistake, which you cannot fix, and are reminded of it every single time. And the constant question: what if I had not done wrong? Because of it, you can’t let me risk myself. And because of it, I must risk myself.”

“How come a young boy knows human nature much better than its eternal observer?”

“You need to experience it for yourself. But don’t worry - you’re getting the hang of being a person.”

His soft-spoken words shake Elizabeth more firmly than a Miracle Punch, yet he attacks once again.

“Everybody wants to save Makoto - you included. If you didn’t know the tragedy of the Rose Bride, would you have refused Dios? Or you would have charged in that school to defeat him? Don’t beat yourself up - they would have gone, no matter how much you tried to stop them.”

“I could not stop you, either. Good luck, little one. Prove to the Prince that you know humans better than him.”

* * *

By the next letter, Elizabeth has come to another realization, as sudden as the previous. Dios is not merely building a chain. He forces his actors in a set direction, pushes them to grow and change, always with the same ritual on the same day. No expectation.

He is writing a tale. A story of honor and love, of friends who would trade themselves for Makoto. Who would risk everything for each other. A narration of pure affection, beautiful like a rose and sharper than any sword. A default tragedy.

He is raising his candidates. The plot has almost reached its climax; only three can be the Duelist he is seeking. One will enter through the door. The others will wait while Dios forms the perfect blade in their heart and a scabbard out of their body - steel of resentment, care, hate, and desire.

The handle twitches. Drums, please! This year, the unlucky winner is…

“Hello.” No spotlights glow when Fuuka enters the room, carrying the aura of a champion with a death sentence. “I…” She collects her thoughts, putting order to the chaotic world. “I do not know why we should talk. Ah, don’t think I dislike you!” She bows to apologize. “But… last year, Ken said that no letter had arrived. Yet he disappeared. Now it’s my turn to follow them and save them. What else should we say?”

In the moments before the apology, Elizabeth had prepared a grand speech about obligation and humanity’s fate. Fuuka should leave her friends alone with that devil because once one rejects him, his cycle will lose its power. With each branch, the chain grows more durable, and if she does not surrender now, the true Prince will not stop, either. Yet, it freezes deep in her throat.

They should be the sacrifice for the world. She should be ready to put humanity above humans. But she can not.

So, after telling her tale, she swallows her pride and lets her talk - while she will only listen as if she understands nothing (because she does not). “Do you realize all risks at stake? If you fall for the school’s lavish enchantments, you might never leave. The lies of the charming Prince will lock you in his castle until eternity -” his favorite word “-ends.”

“I do! And I am afraid! But was Makoto not afraid when he sealed Nyx, too? Or Yukari and Mitsuru and Akihiko and Ken -“ she binds the tight chain of names “- when they accepted the deal with the End of the World? I can’t leave them alone! At least, I should help them escape!”

Truly a marvelous trap. Elizabeth expects nothing less; after all, Dios has once been a human. And instead of scaring Fuuka or lying to her with truth, she only whispers, “I wish you the greatest luck.” And she means it. Honestly.

* * *

It is the second-to-last invitation. Elizabeth barely stands still. In a few minutes, the same letter will show the most tragic loser and a more tragic loser. She has her suspicion - since the charmless Prince sent out the very first message - but they will remain as her personal, perhaps outlandish theories until the end date.

The door creaks open.

Dios keeps the robotic Prince(ss) for his last piece. Thus, she greets today’s visitor with “Good evening, my dear Junpei Iori,” and her guess is proved so doubtlessly wrong.

“My apologies, Elizabeth,” replies a voice - mechanical and yet softly humane. “The letter has been addressed to me. After Yukari and Mitsuru and Akihiko and Ken and Fuuka, my turn has come.”

Curiouser and curiouser would say she, in the words of the girl who wandered deep in an endless dream. “I doubt we have left a question undiscussed. But the greedy little monster of tradition wants to be honored.” She tells the story.

Once the ball rolls, it will not stop until the bottom of the hill, and the last destination is clear for her. But it is also a weakness because she could cut the chain - nip the bud before it blossoms. The letter lies in Aigis’s hands. One weak ‘Agi’ will burn it. A bit of destruction (then a Megidolaon to ensure) and the invite would disappear, along with it - any chance to save the team.

“Please, do not go,” she replies instead and puts a gloved hand on Aigis’s. “A strong heart can open the gates, and you - you have grown a soul yourself. You might be the key that would break the seal and restore his powers.”

Or she is the new Prince, the hero who would bring the world revolution. The winner could wield the Sword of Dios and kill the desire for death.

“He failed because he was a human. I need not hope for anything. If I win his challenges…”

“It is too late for that,” Elizabeth says. “You have already risen into the ranks of humanity; he fell in the swamp beneath them. If you block your heart to take the blade, his tragedy will play repeatedly. Someone will bear your sins for you. Someone will suffer any punishment in your place. You cannot do anything.”

“I would not pick a Rose Bride.”

That would be such a simple solution. “But the story enjoys the tension, the romance, the corruption.” Elizabeth closes her eyes and her smile. “Aigis, we both know one cannot reject affection so easily. And we both know someone who would take on the greatest pain to bring you happiness.”

The girl stands up and walks to the door.

Elizabeth considers giving “Good luck!” as farewell - but then she would bear the entire humanity’s sins while pretending to have redeemed herself. The alternative is a lie, a plain lie, yet she indulges in it. The only happily ever after.

* * *

It is a lonely party for two spiritless shadows in a silent night. The last person receives the letter, and all she can say is “Congratulations.”

“I thought he’d skip me,” Junpei jokes. “That I’m too plain for their fancy-pants school. Or too old, at least, but they need a new baseball coach.”

The former had resigned, says the text, but Elizabeth easily imagines the truth. Whimsical details such as one’s opinion rarely get in Dios’s perfect plots. “If I may speak up, it is the opposite. As humans say, he was saving the best for the last.”

“Me?” Junpei throws the paper. A draft of wind catches it and carries it on the floor. “Your theory might sink faster than Titanic.”

“Would you listen? I promise to lead it away from any iceberg in the way.” Elizabeth claps her hands and sits. “There is still enough time to refuse the offer.” Although, the letter mentions that the position would stay open if he ever gave up his mind.

“Not much else to do, is there?” He leans back in the chair and sighs. “Spill it out. What puts me above Yuka-tan or Kirijo-senpai or Akihiko or Ken or Fuuka or Aigis? They are smarter, braver, more powerful…”

“You have bested the school once. Now you can leave it as you wish.”

“You lost me. I’ve not heard of that Ohtori Academy before the letter business began. When did I overcome it?”

“The red thread of fate connects you to reality. Your desire will change the future instead of the past. You possess an eternal antidote to Ohtori’s greatest strength and insight in its deepest weakness.”

“In normal language, please.”

Elizabeth stays quiet for a moment before she summarizes her speech. “You have accepted the inherent tragedy which love carries.”

“You mean Chidori?” Junpei twirls the cross necklace hanging on his neck. “But you said it - it was a tragedy. If she’s dead, how can she be my bond?”

“Why did he have to take Yukari before Mitsuru? Mitsuru before Akihiko? He uses those closest to the heart as a bite - and from yours, he cannot steal anyone. She changed for you, and you changed for her - instead of worshiping a blind idol of a perfect late saint.”

Junpei blinked.

“You would not revive her because you realize the impossibility. A man who rejects miracles will never achieve the power of Dios.”

“You are saying I will fail, and I should not go?”

“The opposite,” Elizabeth smirks and eyes her trump card against Dios. “Because you can spark the memories of the outside world. You will miss the sword but save your friends.”

“What are my chances?”

“I cannot tell; only one out of all students has graduated. But if you want to risk everything and free everybody, play your luck. You have a power over him: to join and leave the prison at your whim.”

* * *

The chain should have already ended. Yet, the grand mechanism of time does not yield so easily. No one can pull the strings, but the dorm empties again - and Elizabeth comes to visit. She should: she started the spell, and if nothing else, she would see it end.

With perfect black calligraphy and the gentle smell of roses that colors the air pink, the pearly white letter lies on the brown table. She knows only one recipient.

Only then does she realize the evil Prince’s goal. With a delicate script on the even lope is written: “To Elizabeth”. It speaks with its seductive words and impossible promises, of the friends she sacrificed but could still save, of Princes and Princesses, of duelists and brides, of witches and magic, of revolution.

Once upon a time, in a castle by the waves, a prison was built to trap the hearts of unsuspecting maidens and youths. A horrible Prince ruled there, bending everyone to his will in the name of his long-lost power. The boys and girls had to fight for his pleasure forever, in an ever-revolving string of wins for him and losses for them. Yet his goal never came closer. So, he discarded them one after another and left them in his kingdom not to die, yet never to grow.

He has formed his chain - a well-weaved trap to build Elizabeth a heart and seize it. He forced her to face her mistakes one by one, to atone, admit her sin, and tempted her again with an apple, delicious beyond belief. Even if Junpei succeeds, the letter says, Yukari has already lived for seven years without her age advancing a minute. And so, asks Dios, if Elizabeth can allow her to return to an aged land with no place for her, of which she would have missed so much time.

He asks if she could leave Makoto to fend for himself and fight Erebus, to postpone the revolution of the world because she loves seven people more than her guest. He asks if the Velvet Room is hypocritical, pushing its ideas on weak characters, saving them, and forcing them to pay with all they have gathered, yet judging him for the same.

The letter is a single question directed to her heart. “Who would you rather save?”

And she screams because now no one is left to hear her. She needs not the power of Dios to change people, but it is the fastest way, but it is wrong, and she does not want to take it, but she must help the humans she condemned and cannot do so unless she enters and risks her heart.

“Farewell, boy.” Elizabeth pats the dog with yellow eyes and the cutest blue suit (hand-sewn by Theodore). She has chosen her fate, and now the consequences chase after her.


End file.
